Chapter 5

Once again, he entered the waterfall, tightly gripping the massive rope with his hands and feet, as if holding onto his own life. Enduring the intense pain, he inched forward bit by bit.

Water rushed into his nostrils, but he had to endure it; a cough could mean all his efforts would be in vain.

At this moment, if someone could see through the cascading waterfall, they would surely see the grim face of the stone monkey. His eyes were wide open like copper bells, filled with bloodshot veins. With his hands and feet not enough, he used his tail to wrap around and bit the rope with his mouth, all while finding moments to breathe.

He still inched forward bit by bit.

His entire body was enveloped in the turbulent waterfall, and his internal organs felt as if they were about to tear apart. Finally, he saw the other side of the waterfall, a dark, pitch-black cave.

"Water Curtain Cave... I made it... damn!" The stone monkey broke free from the water and, with his last bit of strength, leaped onto the cave entrance, still tied with a safety rope.

The moment he landed, he collapsed, rolling over and panting heavily, his heart pounding as if it would leap out of his chest.

After a long while, he finally caught his breath. He sat up, hugging his knees, and gazed at the waterfall.

"Why me? Why did I have to become Sun Wukong in this godforsaken place? Everyone knows how cool Sun Wukong is, but no one thinks about how hard it is." The stone monkey thought.

The faint light from outside the waterfall made the entire waterfall look like a giant curtain of light, clear and blue like warm jade, a magnificent sight.

But the bone-chilling air currents caused by the turbulent water made him shiver all over.

"Can this godforsaken place really be a base? Water Curtain Cave... I can learn the Seventy-Two Transformations here, but what about my monkey children? And I can't even hear my own voice. Can anyone really live here?" His throat was abnormally dry from the heavy breathing, and he swallowed hard, looking into the dark cave: "Maybe it will be better inside."

As he thought, his eyes gradually reddened, but no tears fell.

"I should be happy. The presence of the Water Curtain Cave means there's a high chance this is the Flower-Fruit Mountain from *Journey to the West*."

This monkey was as stubborn as a rock. Since coming here, he had no way back and could only move forward.

He remembered the entire *Journey to the West*, but that was not the path he had to take. That was the destiny of another person named Sun Wukong.

Gritting his teeth, the stone monkey stood up again, jumped back to the rope, and gently let go. The excruciating pain returned from every corner, and the force of the fall quickly carried him away from the waterfall.

He slid back along the same path he had come.

The monkeys on the mountain and by the pond howled, creating a spectacular scene in the setting sun. But the stone monkey guessed they didn't even know why they were howling.

This was a place where reason didn't apply.

Wiping the water from his face, he forced himself to turn around and climb back up the rope, inching his way back.

"Monkey King!" a monkey shouted.

"Monkey King! Monkey King! Hahaha!" The monkeys chanted, clapped, and played.

"This scene is anything but serious!" the stone monkey thought.

Fainting, he fell into a deep sleep.

When the sun set, the stone monkey finally woke up. A circle of black, beady eyes surrounded him, and they held various fruits in their hands.

The hungry stone monkey grabbed a fruit and stuffed it into his mouth: "I'm so hungry."

His body felt drained, and even he didn't know if it was his original body or the stone monkey's body. As he ate the fruit, he still longed for the taste of oil.

Isn't Sun Wukong a vegetarian? He was confused, but his mouth couldn't stop.

The monkeys formed a ring around him, cheering and celebrating.

"Hey, you really became the Monkey King. You have potential," the goldfinch said, shaking its head like a teacher.

These simple words made the stone monkey stop stuffing fruit into his mouth and turn to face the goldfinch, their eyes meeting.

His eyes were filled with surprise.

The orange-yellow bird, with its beautiful and splendid feathers, held its head high, showing an extraordinary pride—this was the first impression the monkeys had of her.

All the monkeys looked in the direction the stone monkey was looking, and the goldfinch became the center of attention.

"Have you never seen a bird as beautiful as me, monkey?" the goldfinch on the branch above the monkeys asked arrogantly.

"You said 'you have potential'?"

"Didn't understand? It's normal not to understand." The goldfinch raised its head and sighed proudly.

"Goldfinch, where are you from?" the stone monkey squinted his eyes and asked.

"Goldfinch? You actually call such a beautiful bird a goldfinch! Do you have any eyes? I'm a goldfinch! A goldfinch! You stupid monkey!"

In this place, it was common for animals to speak, but it was unusual for a speaking animal to casually quote human historical texts. This at least indicated one thing: she had seen humans!

Just then, a tiger's roar shook the forest!

The monkeys instantly scattered, skillfully climbing the surrounding trees, leaving the exhausted stone monkey to face a tiger alone!

"This is..." The stone monkey's eyes widened, his mouth opened wide, and his tail, which had been hanging behind him, straightened like a pen. The two peaches in his hands slipped to the ground.

For some reason, the stone monkey suddenly felt that the ferocious face of the tiger actually had a strange smile. It was slowly approaching him.

Was it not afraid he would run? No! It had been observing him for a long time and knew he couldn't climb trees!

"Finished..." This was the only thought left in the stone monkey's mind. With his thin arms and legs, resisting a tiger was a delusion.

Some unknown strength came from somewhere, and the already exhausted stone monkey leaped into the deep pond with all his might.

But this was a rather foolish decision.

Before he could recover from the cold of the pond water, he saw the tiger jump into the pond as well.

"This is really over."

Water was the stone monkey's only hope, but he clearly hadn't paid attention to the animal world in his previous life—tigers can swim too!

He kicked desperately but didn't move much, while the tiger swam to his side and bit him!

The stone monkey would never forget that moment. The excruciating pain from his shoulder, the blood floating on the water, and the pond filled with the smell of blood. His feet couldn't even touch the bottom.

The tiger stretched its neck and threw the stone monkey back to the shore with a powerful shake!

Flying through the air, he landed heavily on the grass, blood splattering the green grass.

Enduring the intense pain, the stone monkey looked back at the pond and saw the drenched tiger climbing out of the water.

So close! He could clearly feel the heavy, blood-soaked breath of the fierce beast.

This was a suffocating feeling.

At this moment, the entire forest held its breath, ready to witness the death of the new stone monkey.

"Sun Wukong... how can this be the end?" The stone monkey was desperate, but even in despair, he instinctively kicked to try to get away from the tiger.

The tiger didn't seem in a hurry to eat its prey. After climbing ashore, it panted heavily and slowly approached the stone monkey step by step.

The sound of its paws on the grass was faint, but to the stone monkey, it was the most terrifying sound he had ever heard—this was the sound of death.

Maybe he should turn and run, but could a monkey outrun a tiger?

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